The Northern Chill 13U Black Ice volleyball team earned themselves an early Christmas present on Dec. 16 by walking away with gold from the TLS Girls Challenge Cup – Trillium I tournament in North Bay.
The team moved up one age bracket to compete and still came out on top.
“The start of the day was a little more hit and miss as the local crew split their six sets in the morning, placing third in the B Pool of an event that gathered eight teams at the Robert Surtees Student Athletics Centre,” the team said in a news release.
The team lost their first game, coincidentally against the Northern Chill 14U Blue Wave team, falling 24-26, 14-25. They bounced back in their second game to sweep the North Bay Vision Sharks 25-23, 25-13, and then posted a .500 mark against the Steel City Ignite Heat from Sault Ste Marie, 15-25, 25-20.
“Facing A2 in the round of eight, the Sudbury girls displayed the benefit of the lessons learned earlier in the day, edging the Ottawa Valley Vikings Settlers 25-22, 25-22.”
To get to the finals, the Black Ice squad needed to best Sault Ste. Marie in a rematch, which they did, winning 27-25, 25-14.
In the final, the Sudbury team would meet the Ottawa Valley Viking Warriors and defeat them 25-22, 25-16 to claim gold.
“The little things we had worked on all year leading up to this tournament came to fruition,” said Head Coach Patrick Gervais in the release. “The girls tracked the ball well, they communicated well and they served strong. In stressful situations, the girls kept their composure – and kept smiling.”
